The Good, The Bad, and The Very Ugly — New York Yankees Midweek Report

The Yanks got back to “winning a series” after a 6-2 victory over Seattle on Sunday. This was huge for the pinstripes considering the day before they were shutout by Felix Hernandez. Then things got ugly.

Justin Verlander, who previously was 0-2 against the Yanks with a 4+ ERA since 2010, shut down New York with his array of pitches in Detroit’s 7-2 win. Verlander went 8 innings and struck out 14 Yanks. Detroit won again on Tuesday 6-5 after a furious rally in the 9th by the Yankees. New York just can’t get Miguel Cabrera out. Finally, this is an indication of where the two teams are. Detroit is getting ace pitching from Verlander, they have a deep pitching staff and the Tigers hit in big spots. The Yanks have NONE of this right now. That includes CC Sabathia, who has labored the last month plus.

What’s to come:

Speaking of Sabathia, CC was paid to win playoff games and was paid to stop the bleeding in the regular season. Well, here we are again. Sabathia is needed Wednesday night. The Yankees’ schedule doesn’t get easier during the dog days of August with the Blue Jays’ tough lineup looming twice, as well as the Rangers, Red Sox and White Sox all on the slate.

Highlight of the Week:

Freddy Garcia kept the Mariners off-balanced on Sunday, August 5 and won his 150th career game. Garcia only went 5 IP and allowed two runs, but it is the fact that he keeps the Yankees in games with a low spot in the rotation. With their bullpen, that is his only job. He is the first pitcher from Venezuela to win 150 games. There are a lot of teams who would love to have Freddy Garcia battle through games as a 4 or 5 man in a pitching rotation.

Article by Mike Lindsley at PinstripePassion.com